re: The Wealthy in Florence Today Are the Same Families as 600 Years Ago

I was referring to the traditional European model of lords and fiefs. If you weren't born into money, there was no way for you earn money. You did not move beyond he station into which you were born. This concept is still prevalent in many countries: India, most African nations, China and Japan to a large degree.
Don't even try and tell me that any country on this earth rewards entrepeunership more than the US. Someone who is born a dirt poor f'er has a far greater chance of becoming wealthy in the US than any over country on this earth.